Boreray rocks
…and I’m tempted to add ‘oh yes it does’.
This photo os from a trip to St Kilda earlier in the year. It’s an amazing experience to visit this remote archipelago. The islands’ history is completely fascinating. I did particularly enjoy the boat trip around the bottom of the stacks as we headed home.
Low mist over the summit of Boreray, St Kilda
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St Kilda – the stacks
When we were ready to leave St Kilda, our boat took us on a jaunt around the bottom of Boreray, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin. They are huge chunks of rock rearing straight out of the sea, and towered above our tiny wee boat.
Stac Lee, with the main St Kildan island of Hirta in the background
Almost every available ledge on Stac an Armin seemed to have a gannet sitting on it.
Gannets on Stac an Armin, St Kilda
Boreray was the only stack that seemed to have any colour.
Boreray, St Kilda, Scotland
St Kilda from the sea
On our way back from St Kilda, the boat took us round the stacks. Seeing the islands from water level was amazing!
Looking back towards Hirta and Soay from the boat, as we headed towards the stacks.
Gannets soaring over the remote island of Hirta, St Kilda, Scotland
I’ll be posting some more pictures tomorrow, taken from the bottom of the stacks.
St Kilda – Village bay
When we first arrived, the boat took us right into Village Bay on the main island of Hirta, the most sheltered part of St Kilda. It was a big relief to some of the folk on our boat to be out of the Atlantic swell!
Village bay, Hirta, Scotland
There’s a classic view from the hill behind the village – it’s easy to see why so many photographers who visit Hirta have taken a photo like this one.
Village Bay, Hirta, in the archipelago of St Kilda
Meandering through the village, the line of stone built houses dominates the view.
The row of houses in Village Bay, St Kilda
I climbed up the hill behind the bay, to take this shot looking back across the village. You can see plenty of cleits dotted over the hillside behind the houses – those St Kildan’s must have loved building things!
Looking over Village Bay on St Kilda
I climbed a bit further up the hill to take this shot, looking across the back of the village towards The Gap, and showing the top of Boreray in the distance. This photo gives a clear view of the long wall built round the village to keep the cattle and sheep out of the cultivated land around the houses.
Looking down on Village bay from the hills
St Kilda
One of the first striking things on St Kilda is the cleits. Constructed from stone, the St Kildan’s used them to store eggs, seabirds and turfs. There are cleits almost everywhere you look on Hirta, especially around Village Bay.
Looking towards The Gap on Hirta, St Kilda
Cleits on the hill behind Hirta’s village
Cleits on the hillside behind Village Bay on Hirta, St Kilda
The remote islands of St Kilda, Scotland
Photo from St Kilda, Scotland
I was lucky enough to be given a trip to St Kilda as present last year. I booked the trip for this summer, as I was already planning on being in the Western Isles for a fiddle camp. So it was a long wait….but very much worth it!
So several of us went over to St Kilda together a couple of weeks ago, and bizarrely landed on the island during the eye of a storm. We were treated to hot sun for most of the time we were there, and some fierce gales the night before and the night after we left.
I meandered over the hill at the back of village bay, and spent some time watching the sunlight on Gleann Mor. This photo is one I took on my mobile.
Gleann Mor on the island of Hirta, in the Scottish archipelago of St Kilda
Having just returned from 2 weeks firstly on Harris, then St Kilda and Taransay, I now have plenty of photos to sort through!
